Went to the M3 Festival on Saturday, which was an all day event at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, featuring The Scorpions, Cinderella, Vince Neil, Kix, Winger, L.A. Guns, Trixter, & Jetboy on the Main Stage, and Warrant, Nelson (w/ Mark Slaughter), Dizzy Reed, Bang Tango, Mass, Black Mambooza, & Zo2 on the Side Stage. Gates were at 11am & Music started at noon. It was a hot & humid day here, one of those days where you break a sweat just waiting in line for some fucking $6 french fries. Bobbie (BlackRoseMetalHeart) & I got there around 2:30 pm, so we missed a good portion of the bands, but there were really only a few we cared about seeing. She had never seen Warrant or The Scorpions, and I hadn't seen either since 2002, so we were both stoked about them.
Started my afternoon with Bang Tango. I'm a die-hard fan and, even though they only had a 25 minute set, they kicked ass as always! It was my 3rd time seeing them and they seemed to be louder than any other band there. One song from their 2004 album Ready To Go, three songs from Psycho Cafe, one from Dancin' on Coals, and one song which will be on their upcoming album. Setlist...
Bang Tango:
1. Ready to Go
2. Attack of Life
3. Suck it Up
4. Don't Stop Now
5. Dancin' on Coals
6. Someone Like You
Spent some time hanging on the lawn with some buddies and just wandering around. As Bobbie & I were walking over to get a drink, a familiar looking man walked by us. We instantly stopped him and chatted for a few minutes & he was very nice and easy to talk to. It was Sam Dunn. I asked him if he was there just to enjoy the festival or if he was working on something. He told me that VH1 is taking the "Genre Web" from A Headbanger's Journey and breaking it down into a miniseries, with one episode being dedicated to each genre, and Banger Productions were there working on the Glam/Hard Rock/Sleaze Metal episode. That was very cool. A couple people I know met Eddie Trunk there, but I didn't see him. Sam Dunn is cooler anyway!
Sam said the series is planned to air next year.
While I was hanging out, I heard some of Kix and they sounded pretty good. I admit, I've never been into Kix. I'm probably the only person in Baltimore who isn't a Kix fan. But what I heard sounded good.
I did catch a little of Dizzy Reed's set. I had no idea what to expect & was curious to know what it would be like; would it be Dizzy with a piano? Would it be Dizzy w/ a band? Would it be GnR stuff, solo stuff (which I honestly didn't know he had), or a mix of stuff that he has been on or been involved with? Or is it actually Hookers n' Blow, his cover band, just billed incorrectly? I assume it was solo stuff because I didn't really know any of the songs (except one song called "Sin City" or something to that degree which I recognized, but I'm not sure from where), but it sounded great. I was also surprised at how heavy his band was. When he introduced them, it made sense: I didn't recognize the drummer, but the bassist was Mike Duda from WASP & the guitarist was Jeff Duncan from Armored Saint!
Vince Neil was surprisingly good. Over the years he has become worse and worse, but he didn't sound too bad on Saturday & he actually sang most of the words to most of the songs! I don't remember the whole set because I didn't see all of it, but he opened with Live Wire, also played Dr. Feelgood, Piece of Your Action, Don't Go Away Mad, Kickstart My Heart, Wild Side, Girls Girls Girls, & Rock n Roll by Led Zep, just to name a few. The highlight of Vince Neil's set was when Vince Neil left the stage and his band did an excellent cover of Heaven & Hell, with the guitarist (Jeff Bland) singing.
Next up was Cinderella. Can't say much more than they kicked ass as always. Very tight & Tom's vocals sounded very clear. Setlist was...
1. Second Wind
2. Push Push
3. Somebody Save Me
4. Night Songs
5. Heartbreak Station
6. Coming Home
7. Shelter Me
8. Nobody's Fool
9. Gypsy Road
10. Don't Know What You Got (til it's gone)
11. Shake Me
We left Cinderella's set after Gypsy Road so we could make it to the Side Stage for Warrant. Say what you will about Warrant, but these guys really do kick ass. "Cherry Pie" & "Heaven" are terrible songs and many people base their opinion of Warrant on those, not giving their actual material a shot, but Warrant truly does have great material & are an amazing live band. The last time I saw Warrant was in 2002, with the Jani Lane/Jerry Dixon/ Erik Turner/ Billy Morris/ Mike Fasano line up. Currently, it is the original band (Jerry Dixon/ Erik Turner/Joey Allen/ Steven Sweet) with Robert Mason on vocals, and that guy sounds awesome! Setlist was...(might be a little out of order)
1. Sure Feels Good
2. Down Boys
3. So Damn Pretty
4. Ridin' High
5. Big Talk
6. Heaven
7. Bed of Roses
8. Mr. Rainmaker
9. I Saw Red
10. Uncle Tom's Cabin
11. Cherry Pie
Back over to our spot on the lawn for the Grand Finale of the night: THE SCORPIONS! They were scheduled for 9:30 but didn't go on til about 10:15, which got me worried because concerts at this venue need to be over by 11pm. They did cut the set short, and Klaus said he had the flu, but he still sounded amazing & they played until 11:30. The part that bothers me is that if you usually play 2 hours and you only get 1:25 & you cut songs for that reason, then you go on late and need to cut songs for that reason, why leave in the solos? If the solos are really necessary so the rest of the band can get a break, then shorten them. Matthias Jabs kept his solo to approx 3-5 minutes, but James Kottak's drum solo seriously went on for 20 minutes. Being a drummer, I do enjoy drum solos when there is room for one, but when you already have to cut your set short, don't keep the drum solo going for 20 minutes. That's 3-5 more songs we could have heard! I will say the video going during the drum solo was pretty awesome. It went through a bunch of pictures of album covers and turned them into live action, if that makes sense. The funny thing was that the albums they went through during the solo were not in any kind of order whatsoever. Going from Pure Instinct to Fly to the Rainbow, I heard someone close by say "Pure Instinct wasn't their first album!" Either way, it was an awesome show! Setlist...
1. Sting In The Tail
2. Make It Real
3. Bad Boys Running Wild
4. The Zoo
5. Another Piece of Meat (w/ Vince Neil)
6. Coast To Coast
7. The Best Is Yet To Come
8. Holiday
9. The Good Die Young
10. Raised On Rock
11. Tease Me, Please Me
12. Wind Of Change
13. Kottak Attack (Inappropriate 20 minute drum solo)
14. Blackout
15. Matthias Jabs Solo (kept to a reasonable 5 minutes)
16. Big City Nights
Encore
17. Rock You Like A Hurricane
Very fun day with a lot of great performances!!!
For those interested, here was the schedule for the day:
Pavilion Stage (Main Stage)
12:00 - 12:35 - Jetboy
1:05 - 1:45 - Trixter
2:15 - 3:00 - LA Guns
3:30 - 4:15 - Winger
4:40 - 5:40 - Kix
6:15 - 7:15 - Vince Neil
7:40 - 8:40 - Cinderella
9:30 - 10:55 - Scorpions
Festival Stage (Side Stage)
12:35 - 1:05 - Z02
1:45 - 2:15 - Black Mambooza
3:00 - 3:30 - Mass
4:15 - 4:40 - Bang Tango
5:40 - 6:15 - Dizzy Reed
7:00 - 7:40 - Nelson
8:40 - 9:25 - Warrant
Notice how the first 3 bands on the Side Stage get 30 minutes, Dizzy gets 35 minutes, Nelson gets 40 minutes, Warrant gets 45 minutes, but Bang Tango only gets 25 minutes
Nelson should have only been given 40 seconds!
Thanks for reading!
Started my afternoon with Bang Tango. I'm a die-hard fan and, even though they only had a 25 minute set, they kicked ass as always! It was my 3rd time seeing them and they seemed to be louder than any other band there. One song from their 2004 album Ready To Go, three songs from Psycho Cafe, one from Dancin' on Coals, and one song which will be on their upcoming album. Setlist...
Bang Tango:
1. Ready to Go
2. Attack of Life
3. Suck it Up
4. Don't Stop Now
5. Dancin' on Coals
6. Someone Like You
Spent some time hanging on the lawn with some buddies and just wandering around. As Bobbie & I were walking over to get a drink, a familiar looking man walked by us. We instantly stopped him and chatted for a few minutes & he was very nice and easy to talk to. It was Sam Dunn. I asked him if he was there just to enjoy the festival or if he was working on something. He told me that VH1 is taking the "Genre Web" from A Headbanger's Journey and breaking it down into a miniseries, with one episode being dedicated to each genre, and Banger Productions were there working on the Glam/Hard Rock/Sleaze Metal episode. That was very cool. A couple people I know met Eddie Trunk there, but I didn't see him. Sam Dunn is cooler anyway!
Sam said the series is planned to air next year.While I was hanging out, I heard some of Kix and they sounded pretty good. I admit, I've never been into Kix. I'm probably the only person in Baltimore who isn't a Kix fan. But what I heard sounded good.
I did catch a little of Dizzy Reed's set. I had no idea what to expect & was curious to know what it would be like; would it be Dizzy with a piano? Would it be Dizzy w/ a band? Would it be GnR stuff, solo stuff (which I honestly didn't know he had), or a mix of stuff that he has been on or been involved with? Or is it actually Hookers n' Blow, his cover band, just billed incorrectly? I assume it was solo stuff because I didn't really know any of the songs (except one song called "Sin City" or something to that degree which I recognized, but I'm not sure from where), but it sounded great. I was also surprised at how heavy his band was. When he introduced them, it made sense: I didn't recognize the drummer, but the bassist was Mike Duda from WASP & the guitarist was Jeff Duncan from Armored Saint!
Vince Neil was surprisingly good. Over the years he has become worse and worse, but he didn't sound too bad on Saturday & he actually sang most of the words to most of the songs! I don't remember the whole set because I didn't see all of it, but he opened with Live Wire, also played Dr. Feelgood, Piece of Your Action, Don't Go Away Mad, Kickstart My Heart, Wild Side, Girls Girls Girls, & Rock n Roll by Led Zep, just to name a few. The highlight of Vince Neil's set was when Vince Neil left the stage and his band did an excellent cover of Heaven & Hell, with the guitarist (Jeff Bland) singing.
Next up was Cinderella. Can't say much more than they kicked ass as always. Very tight & Tom's vocals sounded very clear. Setlist was...
1. Second Wind
2. Push Push
3. Somebody Save Me
4. Night Songs
5. Heartbreak Station
6. Coming Home
7. Shelter Me
8. Nobody's Fool
9. Gypsy Road
10. Don't Know What You Got (til it's gone)
11. Shake Me
We left Cinderella's set after Gypsy Road so we could make it to the Side Stage for Warrant. Say what you will about Warrant, but these guys really do kick ass. "Cherry Pie" & "Heaven" are terrible songs and many people base their opinion of Warrant on those, not giving their actual material a shot, but Warrant truly does have great material & are an amazing live band. The last time I saw Warrant was in 2002, with the Jani Lane/Jerry Dixon/ Erik Turner/ Billy Morris/ Mike Fasano line up. Currently, it is the original band (Jerry Dixon/ Erik Turner/Joey Allen/ Steven Sweet) with Robert Mason on vocals, and that guy sounds awesome! Setlist was...(might be a little out of order)
1. Sure Feels Good
2. Down Boys
3. So Damn Pretty
4. Ridin' High
5. Big Talk
6. Heaven
7. Bed of Roses
8. Mr. Rainmaker
9. I Saw Red
10. Uncle Tom's Cabin
11. Cherry Pie
Back over to our spot on the lawn for the Grand Finale of the night: THE SCORPIONS! They were scheduled for 9:30 but didn't go on til about 10:15, which got me worried because concerts at this venue need to be over by 11pm. They did cut the set short, and Klaus said he had the flu, but he still sounded amazing & they played until 11:30. The part that bothers me is that if you usually play 2 hours and you only get 1:25 & you cut songs for that reason, then you go on late and need to cut songs for that reason, why leave in the solos? If the solos are really necessary so the rest of the band can get a break, then shorten them. Matthias Jabs kept his solo to approx 3-5 minutes, but James Kottak's drum solo seriously went on for 20 minutes. Being a drummer, I do enjoy drum solos when there is room for one, but when you already have to cut your set short, don't keep the drum solo going for 20 minutes. That's 3-5 more songs we could have heard! I will say the video going during the drum solo was pretty awesome. It went through a bunch of pictures of album covers and turned them into live action, if that makes sense. The funny thing was that the albums they went through during the solo were not in any kind of order whatsoever. Going from Pure Instinct to Fly to the Rainbow, I heard someone close by say "Pure Instinct wasn't their first album!" Either way, it was an awesome show! Setlist...
1. Sting In The Tail
2. Make It Real
3. Bad Boys Running Wild
4. The Zoo
5. Another Piece of Meat (w/ Vince Neil)
6. Coast To Coast
7. The Best Is Yet To Come
8. Holiday
9. The Good Die Young
10. Raised On Rock
11. Tease Me, Please Me
12. Wind Of Change
13. Kottak Attack (Inappropriate 20 minute drum solo)
14. Blackout
15. Matthias Jabs Solo (kept to a reasonable 5 minutes)
16. Big City Nights
Encore
17. Rock You Like A Hurricane
Very fun day with a lot of great performances!!!
For those interested, here was the schedule for the day:
Pavilion Stage (Main Stage)
12:00 - 12:35 - Jetboy
1:05 - 1:45 - Trixter
2:15 - 3:00 - LA Guns
3:30 - 4:15 - Winger
4:40 - 5:40 - Kix
6:15 - 7:15 - Vince Neil
7:40 - 8:40 - Cinderella
9:30 - 10:55 - Scorpions
Festival Stage (Side Stage)
12:35 - 1:05 - Z02
1:45 - 2:15 - Black Mambooza
3:00 - 3:30 - Mass
4:15 - 4:40 - Bang Tango
5:40 - 6:15 - Dizzy Reed
7:00 - 7:40 - Nelson
8:40 - 9:25 - Warrant
Notice how the first 3 bands on the Side Stage get 30 minutes, Dizzy gets 35 minutes, Nelson gets 40 minutes, Warrant gets 45 minutes, but Bang Tango only gets 25 minutes
Nelson should have only been given 40 seconds! Thanks for reading!
